aiken



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. B. AIKEN. KNITTING MACHINE,

No. 31,287. Patented Feb. 5, 1861.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. B. AIKEN. KNITTING MACHINE.

No. 31,287. Patented Feb. 5. 1861.

THE u'mms PETERS cu. PHOYO-L\YHU,, wasmuo'rou. n. c.

NITED STATES .I. B. AIKEN, OF NFJV YORK, N. Y.

KNITTING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 31,287, dated February 5, 1861.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jonas B. AIKEN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Circular-Knitting Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a central vertical section of a knitting machine ,with my improvement. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same with part of the cam plate cut away in the plane indicated by the red line 00, shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is a side view of the base piece or frame of the machine partly'in section. Fig. l is a plan of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The object of my invention is to construct a circular knitting machine in a convenient compact and portable form for family use without any cumbrous framing and my invention relates to the furnishing of such a machine with a screw clamp by which to attach and secure it to an ordinary table and to the construction of the framing of the machine in such manner as to provide for such mode of attachment.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, is a ring furnished with two jaws B. C, projecting from it in an outward direction and having their faces parallel with the plane of the ring, and with a straight piece D, projecting from it in a direction parallel with its axis, the arrangement of the said jaws B, C, and piece D, being such that when the jaws are placed upon the edge of a table with the piece D, downward the ring is just above the plane of the table, entirely outside of the edge thereof and the piece D, toward the right hand of a person facing the table. The said ring, jaws and downwardly projecting piece which may all be made of a singlecasting, constitute the entire framing of the machine and the lower jaw C, is tapped and fitted with a clamping screw E, to secure the framing to the table in the manner shown in Fig. 1, where T, represents a portion of a table. In the interior of the ring A, there is cut a female screw thread a, a, to receive a male screw thread cut on the exterior of a shorttubular projection Z), 5, formed on the under side of the inner margin of the annular needle plate F, and in the piece D, there is a slot for the reception of a stud s, to which is fitted the bevel gear I, by which the machine is driven, the said stud being secured firmly in the said slot by means of a nut h, and the wheel having a hand crank L, attached.

The needle plate F, which is screwed tightly down upon the top of the ring A, has the needles 0, c, fitted to slide horizontally in radial grooves c, 0, provided on its upper'side in the same manner as in most other circular knitting machines; and the needles are formed each with an upward projection c, (Fig. 1) at the extremity of its shank to enter the groove (Z, in the cam plate G, by whose rotation the necessary movements of the needles are effected through the action of the said groove on the said projections.

The cam plate G, is made with a downwardly projecting rim G, (see Fig. l) which encircles the exterior of the needle plate and this rim is toothed all around its lower edge like a bevel gear as shown at g, g, in Fig. 1, for the purpose of gearing with the driving gear I, and enabling the cam plate to be driven thereby. In the interior of the rim Gr, above the teeth, there isagroove f (see Fig. 1) for the reception of the edges of two or more thin plates m, m, which are bolted to the under side; of the needle plate for the purpose of keeping down the cam plate in its place.

The yarn guide 2', and the needle latch regulator 7', (the needles 0, 0, being of the latch kind) are both made in the same piece with an arm N, which is bolted to the cam plate G, and the notched presser wheel J, is attached by an arm K, to the said plate. The sinkers 7a, 7a, are attached to a ring H, which rests on a shoulder Z, provided in the central tubular portion of the needle plate which screws into the ring A.

As the working parts of the knitting machine possess no essential feature of novelty no description of their operation is necessary, further than to say that by turning the crank L, the gear I, is made to drive the cam plate G, and all the other moving parts derive their movements from the rotary motion of the cam plate G, the needle plate F, being stationary. The wheel being toward the right hand, when the clamp B, C, is attached to the table and the machine hanging so far over the table that the work are attached to the needle plate, the same framing A, B, C, D, will serve for two or more machines of different gages or sizes or of different character, as one for plain and one for ribbed work, by making such machines each with a tubular projecting piece 6, b, below the inner margin of its needle plate to fit the ring A.

To provide for the unscrewing of the machine from the ring A, it is only necessary to draw one of the needles toward the center of the machine so far that its projection 0, leaves the groove (Z, of the cam plate and enters a radial groove n, see Figs. 1 and 2) which is cut in the lower face of the said plate from the groove 01, to the central opening and so key the cam plate and needle plate together so that the needle plate may be turned along with the cam plate either by taking hold of the cam plate or by power applied to the crank L. The above mentioned groove 11, is the groove through which the needles are placed in the machine, and when the needles have been inserted a key 32, see Fig. 1, is inserted in the said groove from the inner end to fill. it up and close the groove d, for the purpose of confining the parts 0, of the needles in the latter groove. This key 19, must be wholly or partly withdrawn to enable a needle to be drawn to the necessary position in the groove 11, to enable the needle plate to be turned with the cam plate Gr.

Instead of the needle plate being screwed into the ring A, it may have its downward projection Z7, simply fitted to drop into the said ring and be secured thereinto by a key or set screw, or instead of the machine being made with a projection I), to enter the said ring it may be secured in any convenient manner to the upper surface of the said ring.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is The construction of the framing with jaws B, O ring A and piece D in the manner herein shown and described.

J. B. AIKEN.

itnesses WM. THOMPSON, H. M. LIVINGSTON. 

